NFT reborn (and rebranded) as BFI Southbank

Still a week away from the unveiling of the new BFI Southbank complex the press have been given a glimpse of what to expect of the NFT's replacement:

In addition to the existing three cinemas, the venue will include the Mediatheque, offering free access to over 300 film and TV titles from the BFI archive. The "digital jukebox" contains clips from the last 100 years, including feature length films such as Brief Encounter and The 39 Steps, an episode of Coronation Street, Jude Law's film debut and a dead elephant being cremated.

We bet the elephant had more screen presence than Jude Law.

Over on the Guardian's Film Blog, Geoffrey Macnab, is more concerned with the venue's change of name:

what rankles with certain observers is the new identity: "BFI Southbank". What, they ask, was wrong with keeping the old NFT name? "BFI Southbank sounds like a furniture store with its own cashpoint," one was heard grumbling.

Ouch. Progress be damned, we're not quite ready to let go of our beloved NFT just yet. We dare say that a fair few other film fans will continue to call the new complex by its more familiar name for some time to come yet.

All that aside here's the page you need for info regarding the mediatheque. There's mention of a tantalising 100-title film and TV collection entitled London Calling. No prizes for originality, but we are definitely going to swing by to check that out.